The door swings both ways
by edwards backup
Summary: Casey doesn't know what to do with herself. Annnnd she turns to Derek for a bit of relaxation. I know what you dirty people are thinking, so don't look at the rating because you'll just be disappointed.


Something was weird. Casey wasn't the kind of girl to get caught up in anyone's problems, even her own. She would push possible emotional strains aside and do whatever she had to, since she was always doing _something_. She had finished her homework, she had bathed Marti, which technically she hadn't been asked to do but when she offered, George jumped at the chance.

"Don't know what I'd do without you Casey!" he gasped, as Marti pulled at a scrunch of his hair. "It's cool George, just happy to help." Casey beamed back, tucking her step-sister under her arm. And it was all true; she always wanted to help. She loved the gratitude she got back from adults, when she lifted a weight off _their _shoulders. It made her feel better for herself and better than them.

Then there were those times she had nothing to do at all. Her hands would tap at tables, her teeth would bite together and she would blow a continuing strand of hair out of her face until someone looked round and wondered why Casey, a teenager perfectly at ease with everything, was chewing her tongue off.

"You ok Case?" Her mom said, touching her shoulder. Casey looked up, shocked that she had let herself fall into feelings of frustration so unlike herself and forced a smile. "I'm good mom, just a little rattled." Rattled? Casey MacDonald is never rattled. "I mean," she said, trying to correct herself. She decided to play a little younger than usual. "Well you know what I mean. Just a little…" She laughed and her mother joined in with her. Actually, Casey was only a little more clueless to what she was referring to than her mother, but what mother would ever admit that?

"Yeah honey, I know what you mean." She stroked her hair fondly. "Why don't you go lie down for a bit? Or run a bath? That always makes me feel better." Casey smiled, thankful her mother had given them both an excuse for parting. "I think I will. Thanks mom." She skipped upstairs into her room and closed the door before anyone else saw her meltdown.

Squeezing her fists slightly she thought about maybe bugging Lizzie for company, but when thoughts of doing her little sisters homework came into her head, she knew she was having serious problems. Ok, this had happened before; all she had to do was be rational and think of something to keep her occupied. Her Aunt had given her some kind of painting set at her wedding; she had thrown it to the back of her wardrobe, convinced she'd never use it. But this was an emergency. It was some crappy vase you had to paint yourself. Perfect! All she needed was an old shirt, "Check." to clear her desk, "Check." and some music to fill the silence.

Just as she sat down to choose her colours her bedroom door opened and Derek sauntered in. "You know I would never come in here if I didn't need something important." He started, his eyes shifting round the room, looking at everything but her. Acknowledgement wasn't something Derek was big on. "So be a good step-sister and let me borrow you're the English assignment for last Tuesday."

"Derek!" She screamed, but he didn't give her a chance to go on. "Yes," he said rolling his eyes. "Now that we've got the customary screeching of my name, let's get down to business." His eyes swept over her desk and he started. "What he hell are you doing?" He cocked his eyebrow at her as she looked down at the pale vase and then back at him. A range of emotions flushed through her face before she settled on something like rage, and seconds before she the vase smashed against her closed door, Derek actually ran for the hallway.

"Okay, that was really scary." Casey looked in the mirror at her own reflection. "You have serious issues girl." She dropped where she stood and crossed her legs on the floor. "You need to relax." She rocked a little, thinking of the day her father had taken her to the beach and had made her listen to the Ocean. But then that led to thoughts of her father, which led to… "Urgh!" She slammed her fists on the carpet a few times then made up her mind.

"Derek." She called him to attention as she barged into his room uninvited. "What?!" He snapped, looking up from his computer. He was shocked when he saw her. "Oh, I thought you were Nora." Casey groaned and sat down on his bed. "Hey get off there!" He demanded outraged. "Do I really sound like my mom? That's just scary." Derek was unsympathetic. "Yeah so is a psycho being in my room. Now kindly leave." "No." She said, lying down on the bed in the psychologists' patient position and closed her eyes, probably not the best idea around Derek. "I want you to teach me how to relax." Derek stormed over to her ready to use force.

"Come on Derek!" she pleaded, rolling over to the other side of the bed, just out of his reach. He leaned over and grabbed her wrist. "How do _you_ relax? Just tell me. You're always so chilled out." He pulled her close enough to his face that she could smell his cologne. "Do you really want to know?" He husked, raising his eyebrows.

She smacked him hard enough that he let go of her wrist. "Don't be a pervert." She said crossly. He laughed, rubbing the spot where she had hit him and gave in. "Alright fine. How do I relax? Simple; I stay out of your way for half an hour." She pouted at him. "I'm not that bad." Derek snorted unattractively. "Please, I stay round you 5 minutes and I get stressed out. Look, what exactly do you want?" Casey traced his bed sheets and avoided his gaze, embarrassed.

"Well, have you noticed I'm kind of active all the time?" Derek rolled his eyes. "Hah! As well as getting stressed out around you, I get tired watching you." She still avoided his eyes. "Well yeah, that's what I…" She struggled for a while, then looked him straight in the eye. "Look, you saw me five minutes ago. I was painting a vase for crying out loud!" Derek leaned in, giving complete eye-to-eye contact. "Yeah and it was nearly embedded in my skull." Casey could smell him again, it wasn't unpleasant. "You caught me at a bad time." She explained casually. "I'm sure" He said sceptically. "Time of the month is it?" She moved for another swipe but he caught her arm instead and playfully pushed her back.

"Okay, what seems to be the problem Miss?" They were both lying down on his bed, but Casey found this somehow uncomfortable and so sat up. "Well I just told you." She replied looking away. Derek propped himself up on his elbows. "What's wrong now?" He asked, his tone of voice bored. "Nothing." She spat, agitated at her on prudeness. "Fine," he said, lying back down with his hands behind his head. "This is your problem." He said, shrugged to the amount his arms would allow. "What is?" She demanded. "Look at you." He gestured to her shoulders. "You're all tense." She drew her legs up to her chest and tucked them under her chin.

"That's right Casey, do the exact opposite of what I just told you." Derek said sarcastically. "It's hard, ok?" Derek raised his eyebrow and looked down at his crotch. "Don't be stupid Derek!" She spat at him, disgusted at his lack of sensitivity. God she was trying to be open with him. He sat up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Ok, ok." He said soothingly. "I know it's hard for you." She turned away her head. "How would you know?" He sighed and lay back down, but his body was touching hers. Surprisingly this calmed her down a little. It's amazing what a little bit of contact can do for someone.

"Because I've seen you; I've seen you doing everything for everyone and getting all worked up about things that matters to you. I know it's hard for you to just relax and let responsibilities and everything go."

She looked over her shoulder at him so he could only see her eyes. "You know you're actually making sense for once." He shrugged. "This is one of those rare moments where clarity shines through." He closed his eyes, concentrating, then opened them smiling. "And it's gone." She smiled and unfolded her arms. Sometimes the simplest of movements can mean so much.

Derek turned on his side and propped himself up with one elbow, looking smugly at her. "Lie down." He patted the space beside him and then raised his eyebrows again, suggesting dirty things. "Move away then." She said coldly and he did what she asked. She lay with her arms at her sides and starring up at the ceiling.

"Come on Casey, you're not relaxing." "I am!" She insisted. "Look," he said logically. "If you can relax with me, then you can relax with anyone, anytime." She looked over at his face; no ulterior motives and no dirty suggestions this time. Still, she scowled at him. "Whoa!" He said laughing; "Only trying to help here." She rolled her eyes at him and then tried to get comfortable. She tried to think of what she did when she was going to sleep. She lay on her side and pulled all her hair back from her face, cushioning her head with a curled up arm and then took the big step; she closed her eyes.

There was no movement for a few minutes, so when she did feel the bed jerking it was a surprise. Derek had moved closer onto the bed, not surprising really because he had been falling off the side when she had closed her eyes. It had never really occurred to her that he could have been uncomfortable, but he had kept still all that time for her to relax. Now that was sweet.

He was facing her, his eyes closed, a little closer than Casey could be comfortable with. She went to move but his arm shot out to hold her still. "Just stay where you are. Everything's fine." She hesitated a while, before finally lay back down. This time _she_ moved a little closer to _him_. He kept his hand on her arm, tracing his thumb slightly over her skin giving her Goosebumps.

"Derek." She whispered keeping her eyes closed. "Mmmmm?" He replied, on the verge of sleep. "You know that I'm Casey, right?" He sighed before answering. "I was up all night looking for the Paris Hilton sex video on the internet." Came his mumbled reply which made her laugh. "And I'm sure you couldn't sleep worrying about all the worrying you were going to do today. So really, neither of us can be responsible for our actions at this point in a time." She smiled, agreeing with his explanation. "Good, because I'll claim insanity if anyone sees us." She whispered, finding it hard to fight off sleep herself. "Yeah and everyone will know I drove you to it." He finished.

They didn't say anything else to each other for the rest the night, but a few minutes later when Casey wasn't that far gone, she felt Derek's arm curl further round her and pull her towards him and Casey found she really was relaxed enough to allow him to. She was just the right size to fit into his body. She reached round the back of his head and played with the curls at the back of his neck until they fell asleep.

At around 11pm Nora came into Derek's room to ask if he'd seen Casey. She didn't judge them. She just woke up a very sleepy Casey and brought her into her own room and somehow managed to get Derek to take off his top to be comfortable enough to sleep soundly for the rest of the night. She kissed both their foreheads and whispered goodnight. She never told George.


End file.
